Why Easter Is Called Easter

When I was five or six years old, I asked my mother, “Why is Easter called Easter?” My mother struggled to provide an answer, even though she was religious. And she is not the only religious person to have struggled with the answer to this question.

The Roman Influence

It was a full ten years later when I finally understood the real reason why Easter is called Easter. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the word Easter “relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring” (“Easter,” NewAdvent.org). Well, finding that out was shocking! This “Christian” holiday is named after a pagan goddess?

The article continues, “Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year…. That the Apostolic Fathers do not mention it and that we first hear of it principally through the controversy of the Quartodecimans are purely accidental.” Another shocker—Easter wasn’t even mentioned by the Apostles? And unheard of until a controversy took place well after the Apostles died?

Yet, as the Catholic Encyclopedia continues, “the Roman Church claimed for this observance the authority of Sts. Peter and Paul.” Wait a minute! We just read that the Apostolic Fathers do not mention Easter, yet the Apostles Peter and Paul are claimed as the authority for its observance? Not only is Easter the name of a pagan goddess, but Jesus’ original Apostles never so much as mentioned it in all the years during which they led the Church after He ascended to Heaven.

The Quartodeciman Controversy did not occur until about AD 155—Polycarp, a bishop of Smyrna who was taught by the Apostle John, contended with Anicetus, a bishop of Rome, regarding the observance and date of the Passover, which some had discarded in favor of an observance of the resurrection. Decades later, Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus—taught by Polycarp—allegedly contended over the same matter with Victor, bishop of Rome. Later still, in AD 325, the Roman emperor Constantine (who ruled from AD 306 to 337) convened the First Council of Nicaea. After the council, he ordered a severe persecution of those who continued to observe the Christian Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

I remember how enamored my high school history teacher was with Emperor Constantine. She thought he was wonderful for “bringing all of the pagans into Christianity.” But, in truth, Constantine was a sun worshipper, “baptized” on his deathbed, who only “converted” pagans by putting Christian labels on their unbiblical customs and observances.

For instance, regarding Easter eggs, the Catholic Encyclopedia admits that “the custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter.” Of the Easter rabbit, it admits that “the rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.” The rabbit was the symbol of the festival of Eostre, the pagan goddess of fertility. Christianity “adopted the observance into the Easter ceremonies,” which included many other pagan Eostre customs.

So, what should we observe?

What Jesus Instructed About the Passover

Jesus, the Passover Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7), before His crucifixion, shared a last meal with His disciples. This meal took place on the evening of Nisan 14, in the first month of the Hebrew calendar—the biblical date of the Passover (Leviticus 23:5; Luke 22:15). Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and taught them to “wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14), and He did not talk about observing pagan Easter customs.

Instead, He gave specific instructions about observing the Passover with new symbols of bread and wine (Matthew 26:26–27). The unleavened bread symbolizes Christ’s body, broken for us, and the wine symbolizes His blood, shed for the remission of our sins. Read “The Truth about the Christian Passover” to learn more. Those who seek the Christianity of the Bible should consider Jesus’ own example and instruction—and then act accordingly.

To learn more about the Holy Day observances commanded by Almighty God—which were kept by Jesus Christ’s apostles and are kept by His true followers to this day—request free copies of Easter: The Untold Story and The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan or read them right here at TomorrowsWorld.org.